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Ashland tennis making a double's-take at state By Joe Zavala Ashland Daily Tidings BEAVERTON - When Ari Zaslow ditched the prestige of singles play for the relative anonymity of doubles prior to this, his senior season, he did so with moments like this in mind: Class 4A state quarterfinals, tie-breaker, bleacher seats stuffed to the top row with fans, each hanging on Zaslow's every net-skimming volley. That was precisely the situation Friday afternoon, and Zaslow, along with sophomore partner Evan Schleining, came through resoundingly, saving three set points en route to a 7-6 (8), 6-4 quarterfinal victory over Tyler Hollingsworth and Patrick Wilhelm of North Salem, at the Tualatin Hills Tennis Center. The win advanced Ashland High's second-seeded doubles tandem into this morning's semifinal round, where they'll play the No. 3 seed, Phalkun Mam and Charles Tran of McKay, for a spot in the finals. It also capped off a grueling, three-match day for Zaslow and Schleining -- they played their first two matches in the humid indoor facility and their last match outside, where temperatures soared to the mid-80's. When it was over, Zaslow and Schleining sounded happy just to survive. "I'm pretty beat," Zaslow said, catching his breath and wiping the sweat off his forehead. "That sun just drained me. It was a good match, they're good players, but I'm definitely going to enjoy the night off." In other Ashland High boys tennis action Friday: The Grizzlies' sixth-seeded doubles team, seniors Kevin Spears and Tyler Coke, won their first-round match, then were eliminated by Tyrel Love and Pat Wurtz of Bend, 6-4, 6-3; and senior Michael James, who was bounced from the singles championship bracket in the first round Thursday, beat Joe Lonergan of Woodburn in the opening round of the consolation bracket, 8-2, before falling to Tyler Jackson of Lake Oswego, 8-3. Ashland's top girls doubles team also had a big day in the girls Class 4A state tournament, played 30 minutes away at the Portland Tennis Center. Senior Justine Bowen-Jones, another Grizzly singles player who traded individual recognition for a shot at a state doubles title, and senior Jessica Baker teamed up to win three matches and advance to today's semifinal round, where they'll play Southern Oregon Conference rivals Annie Chaney and Shannon Leever of North Medford. Zaslow and Schleining's mostly dominant march through the 32-team bracket began at 9:30 a.m. with an effortless 6-1, 6-0 victory over Sam Jewell and Michael Stringfield of West Linn. About two hours later they were equally impressive in a 6-4, 6-3 win over Tom Wolfe and Florian Blankenberg of Beaverton, setting up the quarterfinal clash. Hollingsworth and Wilhelm were nearly as precise in their first two wins, dropping only 12 games along the way. They held their own in the quarterfinals, but Zaslow-Schleining's superiority in the serving department, as well as some timely volleying, allowed the Grizzlies to narrowly avoid what could have been a disastrous third set. "It was huge, because I don't know how much energy I would have had left in that third set," Zaslow said of pulling out the first-set tie-breaker. "Big -- definitely. We did what we had to do, pulled it out." The match was back-and-forth from beginning to end, with neither team able to sustain any momentum. Ashland took the first two games of the match and led 3-1, but North Salem responded by taking the next three games. The two teams traded games the rest of the way, leading to a tie-breaker that may have decided more than just the opening set. Hollingsworth and Wilhelm grabbed a quick 5-2 lead and eventually earned their first set point at 6-4. An unforced error made it 6-5 and Hollingsworth's netted forehand made it 6-6, giving the Grizzlies new life. Ashland earned its first set point moments later when Zaslow ripped an unreturnable volley to the feet of Wilhelm, but the North Salem tandem won the next two points to pick up another set point. Still, Zaslow and Schleining persevered, winning the next two points on North Salem unforced errors before spectacularly clinching the set on Zaslow's powerful forehand volley. "That was definitely a big turning point in the match," Schleining said of the dramatic comeback. "If we wouldn't have won that, it could have gone the other way, but we stayed focused, we were down 6-4 in the tie-breaker and came back and ended up winning it, and just really settled down and focused and came out on top." As close as the first set was, the second was even tighter, minus the tie-breaker. Four of the 10 games went to deuce. Ashland won two of those, including an exhaustive -- to both players and fans -- 16-point ninth game that seemed to drain what was left of Hollingsworth-Wilhelm's hopes. Zaslow and Schleining won the next game (on Schleining's serve) to clinch it, finally wrapping up an exceptional opening day when a desperation lob by North Salem sailed out at 40-30. It was 5:07 p.m., approximately seven and a half hours after Ashland's top tandem first took the court. "I'm not too tired," Schleining said, "I just feel like I'm on the verge of heat stroke." Looming on the other side of the bracket are the top-seeded Rifkin brothers from West Linn - Rian and Austin - who edged Zaslow and Schleining in a third-set tie-breaker about a month ago. Zaslow remembers that match well and said he's excited about the possibility of a rematch that will decide the 4A doubles championship. "I'd like to definitely get some revenge," he said, "but it doesn't matter to me, I'm going to go out there and give it my all and do what I gotta do. "I think we're going to do good," Zaslow added. "I think it's ours." 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